ASIAN GOLF INDUSTRY FEDERATION

Sentosa Golf Club Invests in High-Quality Toro Irrigation Technology

Sentosa Crew

Andrew Johnston (centre) with his Sentosa Golf Club crew and Toro’s ProCore 648.


Singapore: Sentosa Golf Club was carved out of Singapore’s lush tropical landscape and enjoys an enviable location on Sentosa Island, a 15-minute drive from the Island Republic’s Central Business District.
Opened in 1974, the club boasts two courses – the Serapong Course and the recently renovated New Tanjong Course.
As well as a thriving membership, the club is one of Asia’s prime venues for professional tournaments. Both the SMBC Singapore Open and the HSBC Women’s Champions have made their home at Sentosa and attract many of the world’s best golfers.
In 2018, the 10th Men’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and the inaugural Women’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will take place at Sentosa Golf Club, a Golf Course Facility Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.
With the club’s growing recognition on the world stage, there’s also the expectation to maintain best-in-class course conditions. In an effort to further improve the course, Sentosa management recently changed over its entire irrigation system to Toro products.
Andrew Johnston, General Manager and Chief Agronomist at Sentosa Golf Club, oversaw the entire renovation project, assisted by Rodney McKeown, Golf Course Superintendent.
Johnston said: “An aging irrigation system was the driving force behind the recent redevelopment of the Tanjong Course. In order to capitalise on productivity, we decided to incorporate one irrigation system for both courses, offering centralised control, wall-to-wall coverage and individual sprinkler control. Overall, implementing this new irrigation system is saving us nearly 40% of our water resources, compared to how we used to irrigate.”
Singapore’s climate is characterised by uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity and abundant rainfall averaging 2,340 mm (92.1 inches) per year. The golf course is the drainage basin for the surrounding housing development with all run-off collected in surrounding lakes and then used for irrigation.
SentosaSprinklers

Sprinklers at Sentosa Golf Club.


Toro’s Lynx central control system controls the entire irrigation system on both courses. Lynx is built specifically for golf environments so that greenkeepers can personalise the system to their management practices and the unique requirements of their course.
It also comes with the support of Toro’s exclusive National Support Network (NSN), which provides around-the-clock software and system support from experienced service professionals who understand exactly what golf course professionals need.
“We felt Lynx would give us the best flexibility and opportunity to manage our water resources with confidence and quality,” Johnston added.
“The system is steady and durable, and runs without any challenges. It is very sophisticated, but also user friendly, so that my team can easily operate it. We have the ability to monitor and manage the entire system from either an office computer or access it via smart phone or smart tablet apps. This makes it a real time-saver.”
A total of 2,890 Toro INFINITY sprinklers were installed on both courses, the driving range and practice areas.
“The SMART ACCESS feature was the main reason we chose the INFINITY sprinklers. All critical components of the sprinkler, such as wire splices and solenoids are accessible from the top. There’s no need for digging to service the head, and this also means we don’t need to repair the turf after. This really helps us to further improve our productivity,” said Johnston.
In addition to the innovative INFINITY heads, Toro Turf Guard wireless soil sensors were installed around both courses. Turf Guard helps monitor turf health by looking at variables including soil moisture, temperature and salinity. This information can then be used to more precisely deliver water and other product applications, which not only helps to manage precious water resources and costs, but also to create better course conditions.
Jim Schumacher from Aqua Turf International was the consultant for the upgrade of Sentosa Golf Club’s irrigation system and provided the system design. The irrigation system was supplied by Toro distributor Jebsen & Jessen.
Toro is an Executive Member of the AGIF and Jebsen & Jessen is a Full Business Member.
 
 

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